Garden Notes

Turk's Cap lilies blooming happily in Milly's back yard

When visiting my sister Milly in northern Wisconsin, I always tour her garden because she has a shiny green thumb and everything grows for her. She has a lot of plants that I am not really familiar with and she makes growing them look easy. I usually come home with a few new plants and lots of ideas.

Last year I happened to visit when the Turk’s Cap lilies were in bloom, adding a happy orange block of color to her back yard. They were the most exuberant lily plants I ever witnessed – healthy, tall and covered with flowers. Milly claims that Turk’s Cap lilies are actually easy to grow. She found her first one growing in a ditch, dug it up carefully so the bulb would not be harmed and brought it home. Choosing a partial sun location in her yard that was somewhat moist, she planted her new treasure. The rest is history. That lily took off and has multiplied, providing a beautiful punch of color to the back yard that can be seen from her dining room and from most of the yard. Milly said that she never cuts off the seed pods because that is how they propagate in the wild. It has surely worked in her garden because she now has a whole colony of beautiful lilies and once again, I am inspired to try a new plant.

Research

Turk’s Cap (Lilium superbum L.) is the largest and most spectacular of our native Lilies having up to 40 flowers on a single plant and adds a strong presence to the perennial garden. The tall flower stems each bear several orange flowers with petals and petal-like sepals that bend strongly backward. Legend has it that the bloom resembles a type of cap worn by early Turks and it does resemble a small hat.

This plant grows naturally in wet areas and is a source of nectar for humming birds, butterflies and moths. It likes sun to part sun and will grow in shade, but will likely not get as tall. Unfortunately, deer also like Turk’s Cap and will browse on the leaves and stems so that can be a problem if you live in deer country.